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Motives That Contributed to Imperialism

Decent Essays

MOTIVES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO IMPERIALISM Imperialism is defined in the dictionary as being a " The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by establishing economic and political hegemony over other nations" (p 681 American Heritage college Dictionary). Usually people associate imperialism as being the domination of a small country by a larger, more powerful country, usually to the advantage of the larger country. At the beginning of the nineteenth century most of the countries in Europe were involved in imperialism. Each country had it's own motives for wanting to gain an empire and some of the reason were Economic, Political, Religious and Exploitation. Although all of the above are valid reasons, …show more content…

In so many ways, "the political motive was inevitable, as it was almost impossible to follow an economic agenda without substantial or total control". However, religious imperialism required additional motivation. It was possible

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